Two traumatic events mark the church's history. Engraved in the memories of many and still held alive by the survivors’ oral history, is the 1941 forced deportation of half-a-million ethnic Germans from the then Volga Republic, most of who were Lutherans. They were originally German settlers invited to the area during the 18th century Russian empire reign by Katharina the Great. Former Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin banished them to the Russian steppe in the middle of a Siberian winter - at below zero degrees, without any food or housing.
And then 50 years later, after rebuilding their lives and communities, independence in 1991 led to the mass emigration of many ethnic Germans to Germany, leaving another deep mark.
Communities were eradicated, emptying the once overflowing churches within a few years. Eighteen years after the onset of the emigration wave to Germany, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Kazakhstan (ELCRK) today has only about 50 congregations compared to 228 in 1993.
"It was a very bad time when a lot of people immigrated to Germany. I say thanks to God that our congregation survived," recalls Rubin Sternberg, chairperson of the Lutheran synod in Kazakhstan.
Long Distances
The painful history of the Kazakh church left a profound impression on Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, general-secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), during several visits to ELCRK congregations in 2003 and 2006. In early July this year, Noko spent three days in Astana and Pavlodar listening to and meeting with dedicated pastors from the scattered congregations. "You may be a small church but I bring you greetings from 68 million Lutherans worldwide," said Noko to his audience, including one pastor who had travelled 1,000 kilometers on the single journey from his parish in eastern Kazakhstan, for the meeting with the LWF leader in Astana.
Speaking to the pastors Noko said, "I think that Lutherans outside Kazakhstan need to hear from you. How you remained true to the Word. Many would not have coped, and yet you survived. You have demonstrated to the world that the Church belonging to Jesus Christ can carry on."
The road from Astana to Pavlodar over the Kazakh steppe is long, straight and bumpy. Bishop Yuri Novgorodov's driver often changes to the opposite side of the road to avoid deep potholes. "Kazakh Autobahn [highway]," the bishop smilingly tells his visitors. The monotonous grass landscape, where sheep graze in the distance with their shepherds on horseback, is interrupted by roadside graves - a stark reminder of the road's danger.
It had taken 19 hours to cover the 900 kilometer return journey from Astana to Pavlodar, routine for the bishop and pastors in this huge country. Novgorodov has been bishop of the ELCRK since 2005.
Ms Klara Valejeva, 75, is a congregation member of the small church in Pavlodar, in the northeast. She was a child when the Volga Germans were exiled without any advance warning. She recalls, they had no time to pack their belongings, and her father died when they fled. She had to work from the age of seven, together with her four siblings. When asked why she did not go to school, she answers shyly, "We didn't have the right clothes."
From the age of 12 she worked as a housekeeper, marrying at 19. Widowed today, she lives in Pavlodar with her daughter and visits the local church regularly - it is her social life and link with the past. She says she never had any desire to go to Germany, this is her home.
